Exploring Rationing

1. "Such staples as milk, rice, coffee, meat, and even sugar, are
rationed. So are some consumer items such as clothes and cloth. U.S.
officials often cite the very existence of rationing as proof of
Cuba's economic failure. In fact, the system has little to do with
shortages. It was introduced in 1962, when the U.S. embargo helped
create true scarcity. It exists today as a social program." ("Under
Castro, The System Is Broken--But Working," Chicago Tribune,
Sunday, May 18, 1986, Section 1, page 14) An economist would say that
the author does not understand the difference between scarcity and
shortages. Explain.